Spurs suffer heartbreak in Blues City

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the aftermath of another heartbreaker, there was nothing more the Spurs could do but make the best of it.

Monday’s 92-90 loss to Memphis essentially ended with a Mike Conley layup with 0.6 seconds left, the Grizzlies’ point guard doing to the Spurs what Miami’s Chris Bosh and Houston’s James Harden had done in the span of eight days before.

Namely, rip their guts out.

It was the Spurs’ sixth consecutive game to come down to the final play of regulation and the third they had lost in the middle of a white-knuckle race for the Western Conference’s top playoff seed.

“If they have the character I know they have, this is all going in the computer,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “It will make them smarter and make them make the right decisions come playoff time, hopefully.”

By now, forgive the Spurs if they are all “learning experienced” out.

Monday at FedEx Forum, they very nearly did to the Grizzlies what Miami had done to them in San Antonio the night before, when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sat and the Heat won anyway.

This time, Popovich kept All-Star forward Tim Duncan and small forward Kawhi Leonard at home to rest sore left knees, along with sixth man Manu Ginobili, who is out for as many as four weeks with a strained right hamstring.

Behind 25 points from Tony Parker, their one remaining All-Star, and key contributions from several oft-overlooked reserves, the Spurs stood nose-to-nose with their closest competition in the Southwest Division.

The short-handed Spurs led by as many as 11 in the second half and did not trail over the final three quarters until Conley’s final basket.

“These games are always good when you’re on the good end of it,” Parker said. “Twice in a row, we’re on the bad end of it.”

After Monday, the Spurs’ last three losses have come by a combined five points. At 55-19, they are one game ahead of Oklahoma City in the West standings.

For their latest round of last-second frustration, the Spurs can blame Conley, who finished with 23 points.

The Spurs did some fighting of their own. Anyone in search of a positive sign need look only at the Spurs’ bench, which had been outscored in eight of the previous nine games, but won the battle 30-25 on Monday.